About this course

Entry requirements

Applications from international students are welcome. International qualifications will be evaluated in line with the National Recognition Information Centre (NARIC) guidelines.

Months of entry

September

Course content

The MRes is a postgraduate research qualification in which the emphasis is on independent research and study. This programme has been designed for students who hope to proceed to further postgraduate study at MPhil or PhD level, offering a comprehensive introduction to advanced skills in historical research.

The MRes is especially suitable if you already have a defined area of research interest.

The programme will allow you to acquire a very thorough working knowledge of the historiography in your chosen field, offering you comprehensive training in advanced methods of historical research and culminating in an extended dissertation of up to 20,000 words in length – over the course of a year for full-time students or two years for part-time students. It will allow you to develop the advanced research skills you will need if you have a serious interest in training to be an academic, or to compete successfully for research posts in the public and private sectors.

Operating under the close guidance of a personal supervisor, you will first design an individual research agenda, then conduct extensive primary and secondary research into your chosen field, before finally writing up your findings in a major piece of historical research. Current or recently completed dissertation topics include:

The Challenge of Ethnicity in the Socio-Political Development of Post-War Uganda.

The dissertation should be considered a first step toward developing research output of genuine historical significance. As such, while counting as a research degree in its own right, the MRes has been designed to provide the perfect grounding to allow students to proceed to the MPhil or PhD.

Taking the MRes History will:

provide you with the basic and specific skills necessary to the successful undertaking of historical research;

deepen your understanding of a particular field of study and its current debates through independent study;

encourage you to reflect critically on the relationship between history and theory;

allow you to evaluate and analyse historical sources;

give you the chance to undertake a major piece of independent research culminating in the production of an extended dissertation, working closely with a group of young scholars and established historians who themselves produce historical research of national and international significance.

You can also pursue an MRes in History or a vocational Masters in Archives and Records Management.